A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248

by Translator: Johnchen

  As for the Weeping Soul Beast that was capable of consuming souls and beasts, it was tangling with two ghostly silhouettes covered in green fur.

  Apart from their pointed heads and the several-inch-long white bone prongs held in each of their hands, they appeared exactly the same as ordinary green furred jiangshi[1.The chinese hybrid of a vampire and a zombie. It was normally described to move by hopping]. At that moment, their white bone prongs spouted out a stream of green flame wisps towards the Weeping Soul Beast.

  In response, the Weeping Soul Beast spurt out a yellow glowing light from its nose that violently collided with the flame wisps. After being wrapped by its glow, the wisps of flame were completely absorbed into its nose.

  At first glance, the Weeping Soul Beast had the advantage because the green furred monsters were merely attacking from a distance with the flame wisps and they didn’t dare to approach the beast as if they were fearful of its yellow glowing light. But in reality, the Weeping Soul Beast was being tied down by the monsters and was unable to assist the black-robed man.

  “Nightfiend Ghosts!” Upon seeing the two green furred monsters, Fairy Violet Spirit took a breath of cold air.

  Han Li’s heart stirred. Without turning his head around, he asked, “What? Does Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit recognize what those are?”

  “It should be correct. Although this is the first time I’ve seen them, they appear exactly the same as described. They are a particularly rare type of Jiangshi that are able to travel underneath the sun. It is no wonder they dare to brave the Weeping Ghost Beast’s power. As they have physical bodies, they are able to suppress the beast so long as they distance themselves from the Weeping Soul Beast’s soul absorbing light. After all, the Weeping Soul Beast seems lacking in skills. It probably doesn’t have anything apart from its soul absorbing light.”

  After Han Li heard this, his face displayed no abnormalities, but he let out a long mental sigh. This woman’s cultivation wasn’t high, but her knowledge was far greater than that of a rogue cultivator like himself. Despite having read through many records during his days at Yellow Maple Valley, he didn’t possess the qualifications to read through the truly valuable secret information as his cultivation was too low.

  As for when he arrived in the Scattered Star Seas, he had purchased many records but the information hadn’t filtered or organized by a sect. If the records weren’t duplicates, then they missed a great amount of information. He normally wouldn’t look at them. But during this crucial moment, his own knowledge was shown to be lacking. If he made it out of here alive, it seemed he would have to pay a visit to the Exquisite Sound Sect and look through their records. It was unlikely they would reject an Elder of their own sect!

  As Han Li thought this, a change had occurred. The blue flames of the fire-red hammer had been completely enveloped by the black Qi of the ghost shadow’s green pearl. Seeing that his own flames had been extinguished, the black-robed man revealed furious alarm in the face of imminent crisis.

  He had believed that by relying on the might of the Weeping Soul Beast that he’d able able to easily charge through this first trial, the Vengeful Ghost Haunt. As a result, he had refused the others’ invitations. But he hadn’t expect to come across a profound malicious spirit with such skill and had comprehended all sorts of attrition techniques. It had even taken advantage of a moment of carelessness to separate him from his Weeping Soul Beast, leaving him in a dangerous position.

  Unfortunately, apart from being able to refine a Weeping Soul Beast and comprehending a few peculiar techniques, the disciples of his sect possessed no outstanding abilities for confronting enemies. He could only stare on helplessly as he watched the splendor and might of his devilfire hammer weaken along with his will.

  Once he thought of the fearful consequences of falling in this place, the black-robed man’s heart grew ice-cold, and he became stricken with panic.

  At that moment, Han Li hurriedly approached as if he were going to seize this opportunity to save the black-robed man’s life. However, the proud black-robed man’s delight soon turned into an anger so intense that he could spit out blood.

  When Han Li saw that he would also be placed in a dangerous situation, he didn’t have any intention of helping. Instead, he watched their battle from a distance with great indifference. The black-robed man couldn't help but grind his teeth from the deep hatred he felt towards Han Li during that moment.

  Soon after, Fairy Violet Spirit had rushed over. As she watched the black-robed man bitterly fight against the ghost demon, Fairy Violet Spirit was flabbergasted as to why Han Li wasn’t assisting him. Could it be because of the black-robed man’s earlier attitude that he deliberately wanted to watch him die?

  Since she felt that Han Li wasn’t such a short-sighted man, she became increasingly puzzled. Because Han Li had just saved her life, she found it improper to voice any of her suspicions and could only silently watch the black-robed man fight the ghost shadow.

  But at that moment, the black-robed man was unable to further endure. His flying hammer was engulfed in the Yin Qi, completely extinguishing its devil flame and leaving it firmly trapped in mid-air. The black ghost shadow shrieked and transformed into a black streak of light before shooting towards the black-robed man’s heart.

  Although the devilish cultivator’s expression were hidden by his clothes, it appeared as if he was standing still and waiting for his death with eyes closed.

  The black-robed man clearly understood that although his body’s exterior was protected by defensive magic techniques, it would prove to be little more than paper to the malicious soul. His hammer could block it, but it had already been seized by the enemy, and his remaining protections could be easily broken though. Now, all he could do was wait for his death.

  During this time of crisis, Han Li, who had been indifferently watching from the side, suddenly acted without the slightest warning.

  With a wave of his hand, five streaks of slender azure sword Qi shot out, arriving at the black shadow’s vitals in the blink of an eye.

  If the black shadow were to ignore them and solely focus on killing the black-robed man, it would succeed. But in turn, its crystal core had a high likelihood of being shattered by the streaks of sword Qi.

  The black shadow naturally didn’t follow through with such a disadvantageous action. Its body blurred several times before returning to its original location. Its eyes stared at Han Li with an intense green radiance without the slightest glimmer of emotion.

  Han Li’s eyes flickered with a strange light upon seeing this. With a flip of his hand, he took out a small, exquisite spirit beast pouch.

  He didn’t immediately release the pouch. With his other hand, he shot over ten azure lights towards the two green-furred nightfiends.

  The two ghosts had quick reflexes. Having seen that Han Li launched a surprise attack at them, their bodies blurred several times, fading away into two wisps of smoke. A short moment later, they reappeared at the ghost shadow’s side. They vengefully bared their fangs at Han Li, revealing their mouths full of sharp, black and yellow teeth.

  Taking advantage of the ghost shadow’s shift in attention, the black robed cultivator gambled the entirety of his magic power to seize back control of his magic treasure. In the next instant, he felt great delight and had it fly back towards him in a streak of red-light.

  At that moment, Han Li’s face froze and he loudly shouted, “Careful! There are other ghosts!”

  The black-robed man was startled. In that very moment, a nearly incorporeal grey silhouette shot out from the other side of the ghost mist, arriving in front of the black-robed man in an instant.

  The black-robed man’s eyes were filled with fear. It was too late for him to dodge!

  Unfortunately?

  Chapter 441: Ghost King (3)

  When the grey silhouette was about to pierce through the black-robed man’s body, a brilliant white radiance flashed between them. The grey shadow quickly withdr
ew with a shout as if it were greatly afraid of the white light.

  The black-robed man whose life was spared remained stunned for a short moment before feeling delighted surprise. He instantly turned his gaze towards a flashing red light that appeared by Han Li’s side.

  Han Li looked at the black-robed man with amazement. He had clearly seen a white light flicker like the blur of a huge diving bird, scaring off the grey shadow. Han Li was quite curious about it.

  The black-robed man still appeared unsightly. As he had just narrowly escaped death, he still felt great lingering fear. He felt great regret at having ignored the words of others and so rashly came to the Heavenvoid Hall.

  But when he thought of the white light that had just saved him, he seemed to have thought of something and hastily reached into his robes, taking out a copper mirror stained from age.

  Han Li glanced at the item with marvel.

  The shape of the mirror was peculiar, and its spiritual Qi was concealed, could it be an ancient treasure?

  As Han Li pondered this, he heard an abrupt shatter.

  The ancient mirror had split into eight pieces without the slightest warning. The spiritual Qi that it contained scattered without a trace, turning it into mere scraps.

  When the black-robed man saw this, his eyes were filled with regret. He sighed and put away the shattered copper mirror.

  He then raised his head and watched as Han Li approached. He couldn’t help but recall how Han Li had deliberately refused to aid him at the beginning and coldly snorted before turning his gaze once more.

  The black-robed man’s actions stunned Han Li. But soon after, he seemed to have realized something and silently smiled with understanding before turning his gaze towards the ghosts.

  Fairy Violet Spirit also looked at the black-robed man and revealed a thoughtful expression.

  At that moment, the Weeping Soul Beast had already rushed over to them. It climbed up on the black-robed man’s shoulder and motionlessly sat there. It appeared quite clever.

  The grey ghost shadow reappeared at the side of the black ghost shadow. With many poofs, eight identically shaped demon ghosts appeared from around the mist.

  Han Li recognized these ghosts from a glance. They were fierce ghosts known as Weiwu.

  Normally, whenever one appeared, it would cause a great uproar. An unexpected sighting of such a large group of them caused Han Li’s expression to sink.

  They were horned and sharply clawed. Although they were far inferior to those ghost shadows, they were still superior to late Foundation Establishment cultivators. They were slowly crouching forward towards them with cold gazes and were surrounding the three cultivators.

  From this, Han Li knew that a hard fought battle was unavoidable. He bluntly gave his commands, “You two deal with the Weiwu Ghosts. I will go and deal with the two ghost shadows. Delay them!”

  Han Li’s voice was deep and solemn. Although the black-robed man felt resentment towards Han Li, he also knew that the situation was grave and could only begrudgingly follow Han Li’s orders.

  After all, he already recognized that he was unable to combat the two ghost shadows. Han Li taking the initiative to confront them was exactly what he had wanted.

  The vicious ghosts revealed an ominous gaze. When Han Li saw this, he instantly released the Spirit Beast Pouch that he held in his hand. A glistening cloud of gold and silver light suddenly appeared in midair.

  At that moment, the demon ghosts seemed to have received an order and viciously pounced at the three while breathing out wisps of black flame. Without any hesitation, the black-robed man and Fairy Violet Spirit released their magic treasures and tools to block them.

  The Weeping Soul Beast was particularly impressive. A glowing light shot from its nose and dragged a nearby demon ghost into his stomach. However, that was all it could do before the two green furred nightfiends used their bone prongs to once again tie it down.

  Han Li didn’t pay attention to any of the Weiwu Ghosts. He shot towards the two ghost shadows in the distance as a streak of azure light. The cloud of droning Gold Devouring Beetles were closely following after him.

  When the black ghost shadow saw Han Li take the initiative to approach them, its black eyes flashed with green light. It then opened its mouth and released a green sparkling pearl towards him. As for the grey shadow next to it, after several blurs, it disappeared from sight.

  Han Li frowned and expressionlessly stopped in place. With a flick of his finger, two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords flew to intercept the green pearl as azure streaks of light.

  Simultaneously, he commanded his droning Gold Devouring Beetles to scatter around him and to float in place.

  Bang! The two streaks of azure light were exchanging blows with the green pearl. The ghost pearl released a large cloud of profound Yin Qi in an attempt to bind and seal the two flying swords within it.

  Cold light flashed from Han Li’s eyes. Forming a sword incantation gesture with his hands, the two flying swords grew several times in size, transforming into two ten-meter-long azure flood dragons. With a flamboyant flourish, they broke through the black Yin Qi encirclement and fiercely charged towards the green ghost pearl.

  The ghost shadow’s originally icy expression revealed a trace of surprise.

  Although the green ghost pearl was once the protective magic treasure of a fallen cultivator, it was rather average. But after the demon ghost had acquired it and tempered it for several hundred years with profound Yin Qi, it had long since become marvelously refined into a magic treasure of particularly damaging profound Yin Qi. So long as a magic treasure was bound by its Qi, it would be continuously sealed and incapable of escaping.

  But for some unknown reason, Han Li’s flying swords showed no fear towards being entangled by the profound Yin Qi. After transforming into azure flood dragons, the swords tore apart the profound Yin Qi, not allowing it to approach their main bodies.

  When the ghost shadow saw this, it couldn’t help but become fearful. During its several hundred years of sentience, it had never come across such a scene.

  After a moment of hesitation, it suddenly raised its claw and reached towards the green pearl as if it were grabbing it in the air. The ghost pearl then flourished with brilliance and shot back about ten meters before revolving in place. After a series of sways, the pearl transformed into a black demon tiger.

  The tiger was huge and had intelligent eyes. As it roared, it spouted out dark-green wisps with bold and powerful intensity.

  But what was most astonishing was that the huge tiger didn’t have a hollow body like his sword’s transformed azure flood dragons. Instead, its body was corporeal and appeared quite fearsome.

  After a moment of shock, Han Li couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. “An artifact spirit?”

  This so-called “artifact spirit” is something every magic treasure can refine upon sealing the soul essence of a demon beast’s primal soul into it. During an enemy confrontation, the soul essence and magic treasure would fuse, causing the magic treasure to transform into the form of the artifact spirit with greatly increased power. In addition, it would also gain the demon beast soul’s original abilities. It could be said to be a shortcut to quickly raising a magic treasure’s strength.

  But for some unknown reason, regardless of whether or not the magic treasure successfully refined the sealed soul, only one attempt could be made to gain an artifact spirit. If a second attempt were to be attempted, the magic treasure would be incapable of absorbing the soul essence of the primal soul.

  This was regarded by cultivators with great importance. If they had no urgent need to increase their magic treasure’s power, they would spend as much time as possible to find an appropriate match and deliberate before conducting the sealing ceremony.

  During the Trial of Blood and Fire back in the State of Yue, Nangong Wan probably took the primal soul of the inky flood dragon with the intention of sealing it as an artifact spirit.

  After all, t
he inky flood dragon may have been young, but it was still a very rare flood dragon. That must’ve been why Nangong Wan was so excited when she obtained it.

  Despite having slaughtered a great number of demon beasts of various ranks, Han Li had yet to see a spiritual flood dragon. This caused Han Li, who had wanted to use a flood dragon as his artifact spirit, to be rather gloomy.

  In any case, the odds of success for artifact spirit seals were difficult to predict. It was almost as if there were no predictable patterns. However, there were a few certainties: the stronger the primal soul to be sealed as an artifact spirit, the lower the odds of success; and if the artifact spirit’s strength was too weak, then it would only increase the magic treasure’s power by miniscule amount. As a result of this, a majority of cultivators’ magic treasures do not possess artifact spirits. It wasn’t that they couldn’t find a target to their satisfaction. It was because the sealing of the artifact spirits had been an utter failure.

  Thus, when Han Li saw that the ghost pearl contained an artifact spirit, he couldn’t help but be startled. Han Li soon calmed down and licked his dry lips. He pointed to his two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, ordering his two transformed azure flood dragons to constrict the demon tiger. Before Han Li did anything else, he would first test the might of this demon tiger artifact spirit.

  His flying swords didn’t have any artifact spirits. Despite having their appearance transformed to that of flood dragons, they possessed none of their divine abilities.

  Chapter 442: Ghost King (4)

  The huge black tiger’s eyes ominously glinted upon seeing the transformed flood dragons that were attempting to constrict him. With a low growl, it opened its mouth wide and shot out over ten, head-sized black light orbs in succession.

  The transparent azure flood dragon was able to swipe away the first few light orbs, but it wasn’t able to block the rest. With a mournful wail, the flood dragon was shattered, revealing the flying swords.